The present invention relates to a ceramic electronic component including a pair of external electrodes and to a method of producing the ceramic electronic component.
Along with miniaturization of electronic devices and achievement of high performance thereof, there have recently been increasingly strong demands for miniaturization and increase in capacity with respect to multi-layer ceramic capacitors used in the electronic devices. In order to increase the capacity of the multi-layer ceramic capacitor in a determined dimension, for example, it is effective to make external electrodes thin and thus enlarge an area for internal electrodes.
The external electrodes are provided by, for example, performing plating on base films obtained when an electrical conductive paste applied to the body of the multi-layer ceramic capacitor is baked. So, in order to reduce the thickness of the external electrodes, it is effective to use an electrical conductive paste having a low viscosity to make the base films thin.
However, when the electrical conductive paste is applied to the body, the electrical conductive paste inevitably becomes thin at the corners of the body. So, when the electrical conductive paste having a low viscosity is used, the base films may be disconnected at the corners of the body, and the corners of the body may be exposed. In such a case, the base films are peeled off at the corners of the body, and gaps are easier to generate between the body and the base films.
When gaps are generated between the body and the base films, a plating solution enters the gaps between the body and the base films during plating. Due to this entry of the plating solution, a normal function may not be obtained in the multi-layer ceramic capacitor after the plating. Further, the gaps are left between the body and the external electrodes obtained after the plating.
If there are gaps between the body and the external electrodes, during use of the multi-layer ceramic capacitor, for example, moisture in the atmosphere may infiltrate into the gaps between the body and the external electrodes, and an insulation failure may occur. Therefore, the reduction in thickness of the external electrodes makes it difficult to ensure reliability of the multi-layer ceramic capacitor.
In contrast to this, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2013-84871 discloses a technique in which dummy electrodes, which are not connected to internal electrodes, are exposed in areas of a body where external electrodes are provided. In this technique, the external electrodes have good connection properties with the dummy electrodes made of metal, and the external electrodes are thus difficult to disconnect in the areas where the dummy electrodes are exposed.